1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to integrated circuits, and more particularly to such integrated circuits incorporating inductors.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inductor formed on an integrated circuit is generally susceptible to performance degradation due to electromagnetic coupling of conductive structures near the inductor. In designs particularly sensitive to inductor performance, the impact of the coupling from these electromagnetic signals may be lessened by reducing or eliminating structures that affect performance. Accordingly, a design may reduce or eliminate conductive structures near an inductor, generating areas of the integrated circuit having a low metal density extending from the inductor through one or more integrated circuit layers. Unfortunately, in some integrated circuit manufacturing processes, areas of high metal density adjacent to areas of low metal density, in the same or even different metal layers, may have increased susceptibility to manufacturing defects and violate design rules implemented to reduce the impact of these defects in the particular process.
Accordingly, a technique is desired for forming high metal density integrated circuit structures near areas of low metal density without a significant impact on performance of nearby inductors and without violating design rules for a given manufacturing process.